Early Retirement Program Attracts 26 County Officials

A highway superintendent, an executive secretary, a librarian and a
jail administrator are among a long list of Vineyarders who will take
early retirement this year under a program made possible by an act of
the state legislature.

Approved last spring as a cost-cutting measure and signed into law
by acting Gov. Jane Swift, the law cleared the way for towns and
counties to offer early retirement to employees.

The program is available to employees who are 55 or older with at
least 10 years of experience, and to employees of any age with 20 years
of experience. The law allows eligible employees to add five years to
their age or years of service in calculating their pensions. Pensions
are calculated using a formula that includes the number of years worked,
the salary and age of the employee.

On the Vineyard, 26 employees will take early retirement by the end
of this year.

"I think it sort of tells you something about what we are
going through right now - these people want to take some extra
time, some time for themselves," said Cynthia Schilling, who is
the administrator for the county retirement system.

"It is definitely a benefit. It is a real benefit for the
people who are in the system and are eligible," said county
treasurer Noreen Flanders.

There are some 1,100 employees in the county retirement system;
about 800 are active employees and the rest are retired. The system
includes all six Vineyard towns plus the town of Gosnold, the county,
and every public and quasi-public agency, including the Martha's
Vineyard Commission, the refuse district, the Martha's Vineyard
Land Bank, the regional transit authority and all the school
administrations. Teachers are not members of the county retirement
system because they are covered by the state teacher's retirement
system.

The county retirement fund is now valued at about $30 million. Money
for the fund is generated by employee contributions and also assessments
collected from each of the 16 "units" that participate in
the system.

Ms. Schilling, who has been the administrator for the retirement
system for 30 years, said early retirement has only been offered twice
in her tenure. The last time was 10 years ago, when two employees
elected to take early retirement.

"I'm really a little overwhelmed," confessed Ms.
Schilling, who is busy processing all the paperwork for those employees
taking early retirement.

Ms. Schilling and Ms. Flanders both said there will be an impact on
the towns and other agencies who pay into the system, but it is too
early to say what the impact will be. In addition to pensions, employees
who take early retirement are eligible to receive health insurance
benefits at the same rate as when they were employed.

"This will cost the towns money," Ms. Flanders said. She
said the rush to early retirement will not affect the pension fund,
which has been in place since the late 1940s and is conservatively
managed. The fund has lost some money in this most recent period with
the downturn in the economy, as have other invested funds like
endowments for charitable organizations.

An actuarial valuation of the pension fund is conducted every year.
Money in the fund is invested with State Street Global Advisors and the
PRIM Fund. Ms. Flanders said the county pension fund is a defined
benefit plan as opposed to a defined contribution plan, which she said
means the plan is conservatively invested and more stable over a long
period of time.

Ms. Flanders said the last time early retirement was offered, not
all the towns and other agencies elected to participate. "This
time there was more participation and there was an opportunity for more
people to take advantage of it. This time it just looked right,"
the county treasurer said.

Following is a list of the people on the Vineyard who will take
early retirement: